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All 29 seats in the House of Representatives | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 90.13% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Belizeportal |
General elections were held in Belize on 27 August 1998. [1] The result was a victory for the People's United Party, which won 26 of the 29 seats and Said Musa was elected as prime minister for the first time. [2] Voter turnout was 90%, the highest since independence. [1]
The ruling United Democratic Party (UDP) was widely perceived as incompetent, incapable of governing and riddled with corruption. Crime and unemployment rose while a number of government projects were universally panned. After winning nationwide municipal elections in 1994, they had lost two other municipal votes in 1996 and 1997. The PUP capitalized on the people's anger to present a manifesto of far-reaching proposals which they claimed would "Set Belize Free".
Prime Minister Manuel Esquivel advised Governor General Sir Colville Young to dissolve the House of Representatives on 13 July 1998. The House stood dissolved with effect from 15 July 1998.
Election day was set for 27 August 1998. [3] Nomination day was 11 August 1998; five political parties nominated 79 candidates, with three independents contesting.
The radio station LOVE FM held the first prime ministerial debate in Belize on 23 July 1998; it was attended by PM Esquivel and PUP leader Musa. Another debate would not be held until the 2020 election. [4] [5] [6]
One controversy as the election date drew near was Attorney General Dean Barrow's rushed appointment of Manuel Sosa to the position of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on 19 August to replace the ailing George Singh, just days before the election. [7] [8] Then-opposition leader Said Musa objected to this last minute appointment, and after his party took power was able to have it overturned on the grounds that he had not been properly consulted on the appointment as required by the constitution. [9]
The National Alliance for Belizean Rights, which had run in coalition with the UDP in the previous election, chose to run on its own despite its sole member in the House, Philip Goldson, standing down. The party failed to win any seats and was not a factor in the election.
The PUP won 26 of a possible 29 seats, the most lopsided general election win since independence. Several high-ranking UDP members went down to defeat, most notably Esquivel himself in Caribbean Shores. Only Barrow in Queen's Square and Michael Finnegan in Mesopotamia retained their seats for the UDP, while Erwin Contreras narrowly defeated the PUP's Amin Hegar in Cayo West for the UDP's third seat. [10] Barrow became UDP leader shortly after the election.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
| People's United Party | 50,330 | 59.67 | 26 | +13 | |
| United Democratic Party | 33,237 | 39.41 | 3 | –12 | |
| People's Democratic Party | 225 | 0.27 | 0 | New | |
| National Alliance for Belizean Rights | 174 | 0.21 | 0 | –1 | |
| National Reality Truth Creation Party | 7 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | |
| Independents | 372 | 0.44 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 84,345 | 100.00 | 29 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 84,345 | 99.37 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 531 | 0.63 | |||
| Total votes | 84,876 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 94,173 | 90.13 | |||
| Source: Nohlen | |||||
Belize is a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy, whereby the king of Belize serves as head of state and the prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament of Belize.
Said Wilbert Musa is a Belizean lawyer and politician. He was the third prime minister of Belize from 28 August 1998 to 8 February 2008.
The People's United Party is one of two major political parties in Belize. It is currently the governing party of Belize after success in the 2020 Belizean general election, winning a majority of 26 seats out of 31 in the Belizean House of Representatives. It is a centre-left Christian democratic party. The party leader is Johnny Briceño, who currently serves as the Prime Minister of Belize.
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Sir Manuel Amadeo Esquivel was a Belizean politician. As leader of the United Democratic Party, he served as the second prime minister of Belize from 1984 to 1989, and then again from 1993 to 1998. His party's victory in 1984 was the first time an opposition party had won a general election in Belize.
Dean Oliver Barrow, SC PC is a politician from Belize who served as the fourth prime minister of Belize from 2008 until 2020 and as leader of Belize's United Democratic Party.
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The National Alliance for Belizean Rights (NABR), formed as the Patriotic Alliance for Territorial Integrity, was a political party in Belize in the 1990s. The party colour was forest green.
The Leader of the Opposition is an elected official who, according to the Constitution, "commands the support of those elected officials that do not support the Government." The Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives that is not in government.
General elections were held in Belize on 7 February 2008. Beginning with this election, Belizeans elected 31 members to the House of Representatives of Belize instead of 29. In what was considered an upset, the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) won the election with 25 out of 31 seats; the ruling People's United Party won six.
Zenaida Victoria Moya is a former mayor of Belize City, Belize, first elected in elections held in March 2006. She is a former member of the United Democratic Party (UDP). Moya was Belize City's first female mayor.
Dean Russel Lindo was a Belizean attorney and politician. He was one of the principal founders of the United Democratic Party in 1973 and served as its first leader from 1974 to 1979.
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Sir Manuel Sosa CBE is a former president of the Belize Court of Appeal, a position he held from 3 January 2011 to 24 December 2020, the longest term of any holder of that office.
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General elections were held in Belize on 4 November 2015 to elect members of the House of Representatives. On 28 September 2015 Prime Minister Dean Barrow announced that he had advised the Governor-General to dissolve the National Assembly and to fix Wednesday 4 November 2015 as the date for the next general elections.
General elections were held in Belize on 11 November 2020 to elect the 31 members of the House of Representatives. Nomination day was 21 October.
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